UCD Adult Education Centre
Dublin: UNESCO City of Literature
Spring 2011
Tutor: Gerard Dineen
To celebrate the designation of Dublin as a UNESCO City of Literature, the National Library
of Ireland will host this course, which will explore a number of texts – from the eighteenth
century to the present day – by writers associated with Ireland's capital city. Beginning with
an introduction to Anglo-Irish literature, the course will consist of lectures, seminars and
presentations from the Library's unrivalled archive of Irish material. Eight writers will be
discussed, including the city's three Nobel laureates, and students will be given the
opportunity to discuss other relevant writers of their choice during the weekly seminars.
Throughout the course students will also be encouraged, in their own time, to visit some of
the places of literary interest around the city, as listed below.
1st February: INTRODUCTION
Introduction to Anglo-Irish literature
Reading literature
Students are encouraged to revisit the Library during the week
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8th February: SWIFT & BURKE
Lecture on A Modest Proposal by Jonathan Swift and
Reflections on the Revolution in France by Edmund Burke
(photocopies of extracts from the above two publications will be provided on Week 1)
Students are encouraged to visit St Patrick's Cathedral and Marsh's Library during the week
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15th February: JOYCE
Lecture on Dubliners by James Joyce, to focus on the following stories:
'The Sisters', 'Eveline', 'Clay', 'Grace' & 'The Dead'
Students are encouraged to visit the James Joyce Centre during the week
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22nd February: YEATS
Poetry of W. B. Yeats, to focus on the following poems:
'No Second Troy', 'September 1913', 'To a Shade', 'Easter 1916', 'Sixteen Dead Men' & 'The
Rose Tree'
(photocopies of the above poems will be distributed on Week 3)
Students are encouraged to revisit the Yeats exhibition during the week
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1st March: O'CASEY
Lecture:The Plough and the Stars by Sean O'Casey
Students are encouraged to visit the Dublin Writers' Museum during the week
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8th March: SHAW
Lecture: Saint Joan by George Bernard Shaw
Students are encouraged to visit the Shaw birthplace during the week.
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15th March: BECKETT
Lecture on Endgame, Happy Days and Breath by Samuel Beckett
Students are encouraged to visit Beckett's Alma Mater, Trinity College, during the week
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22nd March: BOLAND
Lecture on the poetry and prose of Eavan Boland, to focus on:
The essay 'Outside History' and a selection of her poems
(photocopies of all the material to be covered will be distributed on Week 7)
The course outline is subject to change . Any changes will be notified during term.
Course Texts:
Photocopies will be provided in advance for the lectures on Swift, Burke, Yeats and Boland.
However, students are advised to have their own copies of the following texts:
•
Dubliners by James Joyce (Penguin or Oxford edition)
•
The Plough and the Stars by Sean O'Casey
•
Saint Joan by Bernard Shaw
Endgame & Happy Days by Samuel Beckett (these plays may be bought separately or,
alternatively, students may prefer to buy The Collected Plays of Samuel Beckett